Spinning bucket and lid therefor



Feb. l3, 1968 GOEBEL 3,368,341

SPINNING BUCKET AND LID THEREFOR Filed May 17, 1967 w N v 20 {r I4 I I I5 R I 2',

United States, Patent 3,368,341 SPINNING BUCKET AND LID THEREFOR Lawrence M. Goebel, Parkersburg, W. Va., assignor to FMC Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 17, 1967, Ser. No. 639,207 4 Claims. (Cl. 57-76) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spinning bucket for collecting artifical filaments, threads, yarns and the like and a lid therefor. The bucket and lid are so arranged that a partial vacuum is formed between a flange of the lid and the wall of the bucket as the bucket is rotated whereby atmospheric pressure from above the flange of the lid is effective to retain the lid in place.

This invention relates to centrifugal spinning buckets used primarily for collecting newly spun artificial filaments, yarns, threads and the like, particularly rayon yarn, and more especially to a bucket and lid combination having improved means for retaining the lid in place during operation.

Spinning buckets, also known as boxes and cans, are commonly used for collecting newly formed artificial yarn. Such buckets are cylindrical and are rotated at a very high rate of speed while the yarn is introduced axially thereof through a funnel. Centrifugal force causes the yarn to be deposited against the inner wall of the bucket and the funnel is traversed up and down so as to distribute the yarn uniformly throughout the height of the bucket to eventually form a cake. The inner wall of the bucket may be slightly tapered outwardly from bottom to top to facilitate removal of cake. The bucket is provided with a lid or cover having a central opening through which the funnel extends to deposit the yarn within the bucket. Because of the extremely high speed of rotation, any slight eccentricity or dynamic imbalance of the bucket is apt to dislodge the lid unless some provision is made for holding it in place. Even though the bucket is usually surrounded by a protective shroud, a dislodged lid or pieces thereof may, because of the high speed, actually break through the shroud and seriously injure an attendant.

A commonly used arrangement for securing the lid is shown in the patent to Haley, No. 2,492,426, wherein the lid rests on a ledge provided on the inner wall of the bucket and is retained in place by a rubber ring which fits into a groove provided in the bucket wall just above the lid. Such arrangement requires a very careful machining of the ring groove to properly seat the ring. Furthermore, installing the ring at the beginning of a run and removing it when a completed cake is to be taken from the bucket requires a certain amount of labor and unless the ring is properly installed it will come out when the bucket is rotated at high speed. Various other arrangements have previously been employed for retaining the spinning bucket lid but generally they make it diflicult to attain dynamic balance which is essential because of the high speed of rotation and all require some manipulation or attention to properly secure the lid and release the same when the cake is to be removed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a spinning bucket and lid combination which can be dynamically balanced without undue difficulty and wherein the lid is effectively held in position during operation but need merely be placed on the box at the beginning of the operation and lifted off when the cake is to be removed.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention as well as the means for attaining the same "ice will appear as the description of a preferred embodiment proceeds.

Referring now to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view partially in side elevation and partially in vertical section showing the lid elevated above the bucket; and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the lid in position on the bucket.

The bucket comprises a vertically extending cylindrical wall 10, a bottom wall 11 and a hub 12. The hub is adapted for mounting on a spindle whereby the bucket is *apidly rotated about its vertical axis so as to cause the yarn introduced axially thereinto to be accumulated in the form of a cake. The inner surface of wall 10 may be slightly flared or tapered outwardly from bottom to top to facilitate removal of the cake, if desired.

The upper surface 13 of wall 10 has an inner edge 14 which lies in a horizontal plane around the entire upper periphery of the bucket. In the embodiment shown in the drawing the upper surface 13 is flat, so that the entire surface 13 lies in the plane of the inner edge 14. However, as will presently appear, the surface 13 may slope downward from the inner edge 14 so that the outer edge 15 of the surface lies in a horizontal plane below the plane of the inner edge.

The lid is indicated at 16 and includes a cylindrical portion 17 which, when the lid is in use, extends into the bucket in close proximity to the inner circumference of bucket wall 10. The lid has a peripheral flange 18 having a lower surface 19 overlying the upper surface 13 of the bucket Wall and resting upon the inner edge 14. The lower surface of flange 18 slopes upwardly and outwardly from the inner edge 14 of the bucket wall so as to leave a small air space between the surfaces 13 and 19 except where they are in contact at the inner edge 14. If the upper surface 13 of the bucket wall is sloped downwardly from the inner edge 14, the lower surface of lid flange 18 can be flat. Or both surfaces 13 and 19 may be sloped. In any case, the surfaces 13 and 19 are in contact at the inner edge 14 and are spaced a small distance apart at the outer edge 15 of the bucket wall. As the bucket and lid rotates, the air in the space between the surfaces 13 and 19 tends to rotate with them but some of the air is thrown out, due to centrifugal force, thus leavinga partial vacuum in this space. The atmospheric pressure above the peripheral flange 18 of the lid is effective, due to the reduced pressure or partial vacuum between the surfaces 13 and 19, to hold the lid in place even when a lack of perfect dynamic balance causes some vibration. Furthermore, the faster the bucket rotates, the lower the air pressure in the space between the surfaces 13 and 19 and the greater the force holding the lid in place.

Since no extraneous means such as the rubber ring of Patent No. 2,492,426 is required to prevent accidental displacement of the lid during operation, the lid is merely placed in position at the beginning of the operation and simply lifted off when the cake of yarn is to be removed. At the beginning and end of rotation, the inertia of the lid tends to cause relative rotary movement between the lid and the box and this can be prevented by providing interengaging means such for example as projections 20 on the cylindrical portion 17 of the lid and indentations 21 in the inner face of the bucket wall 10.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention, what is claimed is:

1. The combination of a spinnig bucket and lid therefor, said bucket having a substantially vertically extending cylindrical wall having an upper surface, the inner edge of the upper surface of said wall lying in a horizontal plane, said lid having a peripheral flange having a lower surface resting upon the inner edge of the upper surface of the wall of said bucket and overlying the upper surface of the wall, said lid having a cylindrical portion extending into the bucket in close proximity to the inner circumference of the cylindrical wall of the bucket, the upper surface of the cylindrical wall of the bucket and the lower surface of the peripheral flange of the lid being constructed and arranged to cause a partial vacuum to be formed therebetween when the bucket is rotated whereby atmospheric pressure above the peripheral flange holds the lid in place.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein the lower surface of the peripheral flange of the lid and the upper surface of the cylindrical wall of the bucket diverge in the direction outwardly from the inner edge of the upper surface of the wall.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein the upper surface of the cylindrical wall of the bucket lies in the plane of the inner edge of said surface, and the lower surface of the peripheral flange of the lid slopes upwardly and outwardly from the inner edge of the upper surface of the wall.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1 comprising interengaging means on said bucket and said lid constructed and arranged to prevent relative rotation between the bucket and the lid.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,962,936 6/1934 Richardson 5776 1,986,433 1/1935 Harrison 5776 2,073,840 3/1937 Harrison 5776 JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner. 

